Pride of the Quincy clan
by White Butterfly
Summary: A bunch of family related drabbles, mostly concerning Uryuu and his father and the Quincy heritage. Fifth chapter: Voices of the dead
1. Smell the rain and know

**Title:** Smell the rain and know (that your father is here to protect you)

**Style:** Drabble  
**Genre:** Family fluff  
**Rating: **PG  
**Theme:** Oct 31 2006, what goes bump in the night

* * *

Thunder reverberates through the air, making periwinkle curtains tremble and the boy under the blue coverlet shudder.  
Loud screams punctuate the rolling rumbles, loud thuds adding to the cacophony. 

The boy shivers yet again, very aware of what is lending to those noises. Hadn't one brushed by his window scarce minutes ago, its skeletal face leering through the gap between curtain and window?  
He flinches back, more roars punctuating the storm's chorus.

-

Thunder rolls, lightning strobes, roars and grunts scattered like vocal sprinkles throughout.

A scream shrilly squeaks to an end, catapulting the little boy out the door of his room and to the safety of his mother's arms. There he shelters, his mother gently stroking his hair and whispering softly about how he shouldn't be afraid. He still cowers though, brilliant blue eyes tearing.

"Shhh, your father will be back soon. It's all just a storm." Her fingers made soothing motions against his scalp, totally oblivious to the other sounds in the storm.  
"Your father will be home soon Uryuu, soon darling." She continues to whisper in his ear until his father comes through into the room, hair lightly damp.  
His mother glances towards him and then bends her head to whisper into her son's ear again.

"See? He's here. He'll be here to protect us from the storm." She hoisted him up higher in her lap, allowing his father to collect his son momentarily, patting the four year old's back lightly and mouthing that he'll take him back to his room to his wife.

-

The boy is back in his bed, father perched near his feet. Phrases that mean nothing are being spoken by the elder to the younger, his voice low and soothing, ineffective towards calming his son's fear.

He stands up, shuts the curtains more securely and bends down towards his son's head as if to kiss him goodnight.  
Instead he whispers into an ear, "Remember Uryuu, as long as you are in this house they cannot see you, and as long as you are my son, they will not harm you."  
And Uryuu, able to smell the rain and invisible blood in his father's hair believes him and falls asleep, safe.


	2. Feel my heart beat

**Title:** Heart

**Style: **Drabble  
**Genre:** General  
**Rating:** G  
**Theme:** October 13 2006, feel my heart beat

* * *

"Stop squirming Uryuu."  
His father's stern tone made him stop fidgeting on his seat and sit still as his father wound the armband around his upper arm and fastened it. It was rather tight around his arm and he tried to wiggle it looser.  
"Stop it." His father cooly said, halting his son's hand. "Stay still for once, this'll only last a minute or so longer." He started pumping the armband up with the airbulb.  
Uryuu had seen this a hundred times but it felt so weird to have the armband actually contract around his arm. It stopped contracting and started deflating slowly, his father keeping an eye on the meter standing on his desk, keeping quiet until the armband had loosened back to normal.

"Seventy-nine over forty-seven. Low." He looked at his son while he removed the armband.  
"Huh?" He looked up at his father, worried if that was serious. "Is that bad?"

"Nothing." His father was facing away from as he put the equipment away. "It just seems as if low blood pressure runs in the family." He frowned as he turned back to his son. "Seems like you are very much like your grandfather."  
The last bit was said coldly and he turned, leaving his office and his son sitting there.


	3. Brilliance :part II:

**Title: **Brilliance (part II)

**Character/Pairing:** Ishida Ryuuken, his wife  
**Style: **Ficlet  
**Genre: **General, Fluff  
**Rating: **PG  
**Theme: **16. drink up baby, look at the stars  
**Notes:** This mirrors, purposely, my IsshinMasaki ficlet _Brilliance_. You can find that ficlet in my drabble collection for them entitled _The Karakura Clinic Couple_.

* * *

"Ryuu-kun! Come here!" Ryuuken was spun towards the window and its balcony, held in place by a pair of soft hands. "Look at the stars! Aren't they so bright tonight?" Her hands moved and arms wrapped around his neck, her chin perching on his shoulder so that they could both look at the scintillating sky.

"It's winter Ume, the stars are always brighter in cold air."

"Ryuuk-" Her protest was cut off as he twisted his head around and grazed her cheek with his lips.

"Ume." Cloudy blue eyes shone back at him, reprimanded for the moment but glinting crazily as soon as an idea formed behind them.

"Sake. We need sake for proper star viewing." Warm arms left their hold on his neck, the black hair of the woman he loved flying as she, practically bouncing, raced to fetch the proper refreshment.

Sighing, breath forming ghosty clouds in the winter air, he pulled up two chairs, a blanket on the seat of one of them, a table on the other side. Another heavy exhale and he sat down, hand settling to his trouser pocket and withdrawing the cardboard cartridge within, taking out a lighter and a cigarette before replacing the box.

"Ryuuken!" A hand swiped at his as he tried to light the cigarette, lighter and the offending cylinder falling into his lap. "Bad habit!" Her face was twisted with disgust momentarily, eyes dark as he abandoned them before lighting up again as she handed him a porcelain cup filled with rice wine.

"This is almost as bad." He lifted the cup from her grip and gestured with it as she sat down in the chair beside him, shifting it closer before draping the blanket across her knees and halfway across his, eyes returning to their sparkle and shine. Moving the tray to her side, onto the table, she lifted her own cup in the gesture of a toast.

"To Masaki-chan's news!" The porcelain cup was vigorously lifted high in the air before balancing between her lips. "Ryuu-kun?"  
The vibration carried across her own sake to his, ripples spreading as he sighed again, breath fogging out.

"It's nothing Ume, nothing." Ryuuken raised his own cup, turning to smile faintly at his wife before gulping the sake down. She smiled back at him, swallowing hers.

There was silence for a moment as both were quiet, stars twinkling and cold air whispering.

"It's because Masaki and Isshin are having a child before we are, isn't it?" Her blue eyes were dull, concerned, as she turned her head to his, shifted closer to him so their shoulders touched.  
"I don't mind. Honestly I don't. I know that we'll have a lovely child, a wonderful boy who's everything we want him to be; smart and handsome, intelligent and brave. Just like his father is." She smiled at him, cracking the thin ice between them with it's warmth.

He smiled back, real warmth mirrored back as he finished the last of what was in his cup, drawing an arm around their joined shoulders. She leaned in, eyes incandescent as she slowly sipped her sake, black hair silky padding between them as they watched the stars glimmer and fade in the sharp winter air.

"The stars really are bright tonight," his voice is quiet, only falling into the space between them. "Shining and sparkling like nothing I've ever seen."

Frosted air passed between them, cups set to one side as they fell into each others arms, his hushed words moving between them.  
"And he will be smart and handsome, intelligent and brave. He will be; and he'll sparkle." Lips grazed over others, whispered past a cheek, "He'll sparkle as brilliant as your eyes; the stars."


	4. Chainlink

**Title: **Chainlink

**Character/Pairing: **Ishida Souken, Ishida Ryuuken, Ishida Uryuu  
**Style: **Ficlet  
**Genre: **General  
**Rating: **PG**  
Theme: **July 27 [2007** -**Their story is in every bullet fired down the barrels of their guns

* * *

_  
Pull, aim, calm and loose. Repeat._

The hollow lurks at the edge of his perception, screeching for souls as it lumbers about. It is near the grocery store, which is fortunate; he was heading there already. Not hurrying his pace, the old man crosses the street. He is getting too old for this really, though with his son denying his responsibilities there is no-one else to exterminate the hollows.  
Increasing his pace slightly, the movement ruffling his moustache and cloak, he withdraws the silver cross, preparing for a rather eventful shopping trip.

Ishida Souken heads toward the small supermarket he does his shopping at, knowing that one day he will draw his last breath along with his last arrow.

_Pull, aim, calm and loose. Repeat._

The mantra is repeated, running unbidden through his mind, brilliant blue bolts of spiritual energy piercing through the air and off into the distance, smashing into the far off wall. This endlessly repeating drill, required for his continued mastery of the Quincy spiritual arts. Something he has no interest in, only offering protection for all its trouble.  
Gritting his teeth, the dark-haired man drew another arrow. As it smashed against the far wall, he turns to the exit. His son, the innocent three year old and his wife, the one he loved. The power to protect, to ensure they were safe, that is all the silver chain and pendant means to him.

Ishida Ryuuken clicks shut the door to the training room behind him. Tommorrow he will come practice again, practice something he hopes he will never have to do.

_Pull, aim, calm and loose. Repeat._

He is running. He should not be running; he should be fighting back, bow aflame with angry energy and arrows burning through hollow-flesh. His heart is pounding, a small voice in the back of his mind saying he shouldn't be exerting himself this much.  
Throwing a glance over his shoulder at the hollow tailing him, there is a feeling of dread sinking deep into his chest as it gains distance, its tongue searching for his scent. A single shot would get rid of it but, as he rushes around a corner, hair flying and glasses slipping off his nose, there's feeling of being empty even as the bracelet around his wrist swings against his skin.

Ishida Uryuu mourns the loss of his powers and pulls out his silver tubes, hoping that one day he will be able to fight again with bow and arrow. To be able pull spirit particles from the air as he draws his arm back, to focus calmly on his target as he fires and to continue the line of Quincy.

_Pull, aim, calm and loose. Repeat.  
This is a story of the Quincy. This is how they live._


	5. Voices of the dead

**Title: **Voices of the dead

**Character/Pairing:** Ishida Ryuuken, Ishida Souken,hospital staff. Uryuu indirectly mentioned  
**Style: **Ficlet  
**Genre: **General, Death  
**Rating: **PG  
**Theme: **11. can you hear room 318?

* * *

"Dr. Ishida? Dr. Ishida Ryuuken? We need you on floor three at the mortuary." The assistant nurse hurried away as soon as he left his message, checking his clipboard before rushing off.

He sighed, pushing his glasses back up his nose, wondering what the people up there could need him for before stalking to the nearest lift. He ascended, calculating what on earth they could be wanting him for.  
He was still calculating as the mortuary doors swung open and one of the morticians spotted him and led him to a corner of the room. His mind was still running calculations as the corners of the body sheet were gripped, his heart finding it eerily similar to when his wife had died...

Both stopped as he saw the face of his father.

There was nothing to remarkable about the injuries, nothing suspicious. The side of his face was a mass of purple and red, there was a slash ripping through his torso and his fingers were ripped and bloody.  
He looked as though he was beaten to death by a group of street thugs, not as though he had been battling corrupted souls.

Ryuuken's throat clenched as he took in the sight of the remains, gritting out in a surprisingly calm tone, "And there were no other bodies?"  
The mortican shook his head.  
"The body was found a brought here about quarter of an hour ago after a kid rushed into the hospital screaming about his grandpa. One of the aides recognised him and-" He shrugged, the rest of the story obvious.  
"The police might investigate, especially as it seemed to be a violent attack, but I doubt they'll find anything. There was very little blood at the scene."

"Where is Uryuu now?" Ryuuken's eyes were still fixed on the cadaver, his tone not quite desperate.

"Well uh, I think he was escorted up to your office. Fairly certain, Ishida-san." The mortician looked on nervously as his associate glared at his father's body, almost tenderly touching the elderly man's arm before turning swiftly to face him.

"I'll be going there then next. Uryuu must be in a terrible state." There was something almost like sorrow in the stoic man's eyes, an almost worried look as he left the room, almost turning back to look at the cloth covered corpse.

Ryuuken marched down the hall, back towards the elevators, leaving the mortuary doors swinging behind him. The whumping sound and the sound of his footsteps were the only noises echoing down that shadowy corridor, not even wise words that might have echoed through his head.  
There would be no ghostly words of wisdom from Ishida Souken. No words of wisdom from a soul which was no more.


End file.
